Once upon a time there was a girl    In her early years she had to learn    How to grow up living in a war that she called home    Never knew just where to turn for shelter from the storm    Hurt me to see the pain across my mother's face    Every time my father's fist would put her in her place    Hearing all the yelling, I would cry up in my room    Hoping it would be over soon       Bruises fade father, but the pain remains the same    And I still remember how you kept me so afraid    Strength is my mother for all the love she gave   And every morning that I wake I look back at yesterday    And I'm okay      I often wonder why I've carried all this guilt   When it's you that helped me put up all these walls I've built    Shadows stir at night through a crack in the door    The echo of a broken child screaming "please, no more"   Daddy don't you understand the damage you have done?   For you it's just a memory, but for me it still lives on       Bruises fade father, but the pain remains the same    And I still remember how you kept me so, so afraid    Strength is my mother for all the love she gave    Every morning that I wake I look back at yesterday       It's not so easy to forget   All the marks you left along her neck    When I was thrown against cold stairs    And everyday afraid to come home,   In fear of what I might see there      Bruises fade father but the pain remains the same    And I still remember how you kept me so afraid    Strength is my mother for all the love you gave    Every morning that I wake, I look back at yesterday    And I'm okay   Mm   I'm okay